Should you pay for a verified statement of accomplishment?

I’m currently taking three courses – two from Coursera and one from edX. All three come with a final course certificate, and all three offer an upgrade option for that certificate. In my two Coursera courses, the “Signature Track” option comes with a “Verified Statement of Accomplishment;” in my edX course, I can choose to enroll as an “ID-verified” student to get a “Verified Certificate of Achievement.”

Both Coursera and edX offer essentially the same product. For a fee ($49 on Coursera, $25 on edX), you can verify your identity by submitting a typing sample and snapping your image on a webcam. On subsequent logins, the system makes sure that you are the same student as before. At the end of the course you get a slightly snazzier-looking certificate than you otherwise would, with the word “verified” on it.

The value proposition for this product is based on four assumptions:

1. Course certificates have value to students.

2. Students will cheat to get these certificates, so there is value in ensuring that the person who holds the certificate is the same person who completed the course work.

3. Webcam photos and typing samples are an effective way of verifying a person’s identity.

4. Employers (or other third parties) know the difference between verified and non-verified course certificates.

Why I haven’t bought any course certificates

First, I’m skeptical that course certificates themselves are valuable. I can hardly imagine that I’ll present my course certificates to future employers for the same reason that I don’t list my individual courses from undergrad on my resume. The totality of the program of study is much more important than any individual class. That said, some type of proof of course completion is probably worth something, especially if you can aggregate individual certificates into something bigger.

If certification is valuable, then it does follow that some students will cheat to get them. However, I’m not at all convinced that verifying that the same student logs in again and again is a good way to prevent cheating. For example, a student who wants to cheat could get answers from a person sitting next to him or her, while still meeting the typing and webcam tests. It would even be possible for one person to do all the work for a course under someone else’s name.

But let’s leave that to one side. Let’s assume that the verification process is a good way of providing proof that person X really did the work for a given course. Even then, and even if employers care about course certificates at all, I highly doubt that they know the difference between verified and non-verified certificates.

Let’s say that employers do care. What the verified option currently tells you is that the person in question was able to complete a course without cheating. That might mean a lot if you knew that the course was really tough, or if mastering the material was essential for some particular purpose. But for any old course, if I was able to sit through a few videos, answer a couple of quiz questions, and post ungraded comments on a discussion forum, do you as an employer really care that I was able to do that without having to cheat? I’m not buying it.

A course certificate I would pay for

If MOOC providers want to make money from course certificates they could do a few things.

1. Don’t give away any course certificates for free. The marginal difference between having a certificate and having no certificate is greater than the marginal difference between a regular certificate and an identity-verified certificate. There are probably more people willing to pay for any kind of certificate at all when certificates aren’t free than there are people who will pay for a premium certificate when regular certificates are free.

2. Include course difficulty or relevance ratings on the course certificate. Anyone who has taken a few MOOCs knows that the level of difficulty varies enormously from course to course. Likewise, coursework varies from immensely practical to merely interesting. Students know the difference. It would be easy enough to crowd source difficulty and relevance ratings to give a better indication of how valuable a given course certificate is.

3. Focus on strings of courses that demonstrate professional competency. Completion of a series of courses has a much greater potential to signal mastery than a single course completion certificate. edX has started to group courses in its xSeries. Coursera has begun to do the same with its Specializations. The models here are slightly different. edX charges for the courses themselves at about $100 per course, while Coursera charges only for the verified Statements of Accomplishment. I am excited to take a set of business courses from one of these providers, but so far none have been released. (I’m still waiting on MIT’s Supply Chain Management series through edX.)

4. Market aggressively to teach employers the value of course certificates. A certificate I would be happy to pay for would be one that employers find interesting or impressive. Even more valuable would be a certificate that signals to an employer, “If this person was able to finish this series of courses, then she must be capable of doing work in ______________________________ (insert field).”

I’d like to hear what others think about this. Do you pay for course certificates? If so, why? If not, why not?

avgjoe07

I splurged on the Verified Certificate for both of the two coursera MOOCs I’ve completed thus far, and just signed up for a third. It didn’t seem like much money to add an air of credibility to an accomplishment of otherwise ambiguous consequence. It is certainly too soon to tell if employers care one way or the other, but it seemed like a decent hedge, particularly compared to alternative certification and degree program costs. I’m also able to link these certifications to my LinkedIn profile, but that may be a feature of the free Statement of Accomplishment.

I’m curious – do you think purchasing the verified certificate raises your level of motivation and makes you more likely to complete your courses? Or would you be just as committed either way?

avgjoe07

Absolutely – excellent point. I have typically waited until right before the deadline to sign up for the verified certificate, in case I decide I don’t want to continue with the course. Once I make that financial commitment, though, I feel somewhat obligated to see the course through – even though it’s a sunk cost. Thus far there is a 100% correlation between me paying the fee and completing the course. Perhaps that’s the real incentive.

Yes totally. The first 2 courses i completed are those with verified certificates.

Keley Johnson

I would pay, honestly the piece of paper in my hand or that I can hang on my wall is important to me. Even though I have the education in my mind and it cant be taken from me, I like to have that tangible paper to have in the end.

David C.

I feel the EXACT same way!

morleyl

It all depends on the student’s needs. If you are doing a course related to your profession then the extra money may not help much. However, if someone is trying to change profession and wants to show that they put in some effort to get certified then there maybe some value.

Ultimately, the best certificates are those that cover a specialized area with multiple courses.

john clark

I’m taking related specialization “Improving Business Finances and Operations” from U Illinois/Coursera and right now I plan to go the freebie route, it’s building on my existing credentials as a CPA/MBA and giving me new dates on my resume. I don’t think verified statements count for much, they’re neither fish nor fowl.

Chiara

Actually – I went for the verified track only once, because I was looking for the individual feedback and reviews of the essays. While it was interesting, I didn’t really see any additional value in the end, the feedback was pretty curt (I guess it was to be expected…).

stefan

I usually take the verified option on Coursera for the following reasons:

1. I know they need to make money to stick around

2. they only market the nicer-looking certificate without mentioning the (at least) equally valuable “course record”, which is also included. This is a 1-2 page summary of the course content, testing/assessment method, and any additional comments from the instructor. For Yale’s Financial Markets course it looks like this: https://www.coursera.org/records/KgXW6hzVqA7tcnMs

3. Having invested a few bucks keeps me motivated not to “drop out” and just take the course again “when I have more time”

Khadijah Celestine

+1 for #3
I’m definitely not as motivated if I don’t pay. I’ve taken coursera courses since the first one back in 2012 and the only one I finished was the one I paid for this month. (January 2015)

Jñānam Jason Gan

I joined edX and upgraded to verified at the hefty US$150 price. The unique resource locator that identifies who you are and what you did, will be worth it, IMHO.

haylem

I was initially shocked to see there’s one human being who’d write ‘unique resource locator’ without using the (rather well known!) acronym. Then I noticed you wrote ‘IMHO’, and I am now totally confused.

deucetre

hahaha perfect

ddd

Perfecto!

Michelle

I’ve noticed on my last few Coursera courses that the only certificate of accomplishment they are offering is a with payment (signature track/verified). If you don’t opt for the verified certificate, you don’t get a certificate of accomplishment. Previously, any courses I took had offered a free certificate of accomplishment on completion of the course and minimum marks required. Now with with the choice of receiving nothing for all my hard work or something if I pay, I’m opting for the something. Coursera’s verification fee is currently $55 – not much and I’m happy to pay this as long as they keep the price low. This is a pretty good deal considering a continuing education course at my local university is $1200 + administration fees + textbook. An MBA is $100k.

I also think that putting a bit of money on the line adds to motivation. I, too, wait until the last day possible to purchase the verification – I want to make sure the course is worthy and that I can handle the work load – and that is often toward the end of the course when my motivation might be lagging. Gives me a little extra kick to finish things off. I am also motivated by the certificate, something to show for the effort I put into it.

I usually don’t like to pay for a certificate. If I want to sponsor their cause and I like the quality, I will donate. Besides, isn’t the whole point of Coursera and the like to provide FREE courses for people to take?
Well, if I took a course, I would like to have at least some proof that I did the course, lest how can anyone believe I actually took it? But why would you have to pay for this proof? I mean, the course itself is free. Paying for such certificate just seems ridiculous to me, unless it is some special thing that really adds value (like a course at a regular university, with proven and good assessment methods) and you need to be able to assess that value, as currently it’s quite difficult. But the proof of taking part is just something digital created by a computer with your name on it, I mean really, pay for that? It’s nice to have though.

Everybody knows a free “proof of taking part” isn’t the same as a course you took at a certified institution (i.e. a university, college, etc.), but you can use it to show interest or propagate your knowledge. Yes one can cheat such online course, but if you are learning out of curiosity, like I do, what is the point? and also, in terms of effort I put in, it makes no difference to me if it’s paid or free. Also, with the current set-up it seems to me that the courses are meant for people to learn out of curiosity and not necessarily with an employment gain in mind. For employment it’s just too easy to commit fraud.

In my country getting a university degree only costs about 2000 euros a year (getting your first degree) and you are allowed to take courses at both your own and other universities (even unrelated to your own field of study) and you have access to your university’s scientific library. I might as well just go to the library and teach myself, buy books or even watch online videos. If I would have to pay for these online courses, they would no longer compete with a regular course. I think it’s ridiculous that in some countries (many even) people have to pay thousands and thousands just to get a degree or get incredibly high grades, have millions of extracurricular activities alongside one’s studies or be extremely good at sports, but that is a different matter.

I quite like the idea though of having an educational institution provide courses at a decent price for those in a profession looking to expand their certifications to cover a different (but perhaps related) field without having to complete an entire degree programme. It would certainly open doors for the unemployed or those looking to switch jobs. If you got a degree, you probably wouldn’t need to take a full degree programme to be able to do a job in a different field properly anyway. E.g. if you graduated in physics and you want to do engineering, you’d only need to learn about methodology and conventions used in the engineering profession since you already know the physics behind it. Similar if you did engineering and you want to land a job in bio-engineering you’d need to take biology courses and lab courses but you already know the engineering and physics principles. If you did economy, you might know some principles about Marketing, and so on and on. In this case I think it would add value to pay for the actual course including the certification.

Mary Lignoul Robinson

I’ve taken 25 classes on coursera and would be happy to pay something toward this, but not $1000. I would love to see a subscription option that lets you get some number of certificates a year for a reduced price per certificate. This would help low income students and retired people. How about scholarships?

Coursera has financial aid, which is basically the same as a scholarship.

nnpower

Really? That is interesting. I have not come across that option yet.

Jennifer Lee Curry

It’s all over the site.

I haven’t added a course yet without seeing that option.

MY point would be to go to each U and see how many THOUSANDS of dollars many courses cost individually.

I recently did and thought “HMMMM.”

max

have you found any use to the classes you have taken like do they actually help you get an internship or job?

hueuncool

I signed up for similar reasons as other folks stated in their comments. I don’t think this certificate will help me gain better employment, but the classes themselves should help me be a better employee. Rather I’ll proudly display the certs showing I’ve “attended” various prestigious universities around the world!

Not clear. I think this is all so new that no one has a policy on this yet.

Miguel Alejandro Campos

you know, it’s interesting because I have a verified certificate of the first course I took which it’s Configuring the World: a critical political economy approach. But did I pay for it? of course not, instead I applied for the financial aid offered by coursera which I thought it was going to be hard to get but in fact I just had to answer a couple of essay style questions and that’s it. I don’t know if this is a policy for people from developing countries or something like that. I’m currently taking the international organizations management, I’m on the second lesson and yes I agree with all your observations.

I’ve completed 13 courses so far across Coursera and EdX, so far, all on free tracks, as I too, haven’t yet seen the value of what the verification offers. My reasons for this are as follows:

1. There is no substantive difference in what can be learned based on either track. If there was some meaningful difference in actual course; perhaps by making the “premium” track more interactive or guided, with fellow students (like having dedicated remote TAs?), then I would definitely see the draw. But thus far, I don’t see any meaningful difference. Even the certificate and curriculum itself can be had by printing it out from the course you (presumably) took.

2. I truly am taking courses in areas that I want to, so I have no issue in finding many applications for what I’ve learned. Given this, if I’m going to relate an experience I had in a MOOC at an employer interview, I’m probably going to be talking about something I did with what I learned in a class, not the class itself, so certification is rather meaningless. Most interviews would want to see demonstrated skills, not assertions from some virtual school. And I think that’s the right approach.

3. Psychological motivations are malleable, there are other ways that don’t cost anything. I have an Excel chart I made at home, with increasingly alarmed looking colors if it looks like I’m falling behind. So far, it’s helped keep me accountable.

Perhaps it’s different in the business world; this is no-pay MBA after all. I just wanted to use what I learn, or use it as a basis for further learning. And that’s up to one’s own initiative, regardless of how much $$$ you paid. I like free, and I pay with my attention and engagement.

CT5122

great response!

Khadijah Celestine

You my friend, have a discipline that’s enviable.

nnpower

Well said!

Ahsan Adam

Can you send me your excel file ? ? Please .. I dont want the values I want the layout .. Or just Post the screen shot ..

Hi Suchilee, please let me know how that goes. I haven’t heard anything about exchanging course completion certificates for university credit or other types of certification – to my knowledge this isn’t available yet – but if you know how to do it, I’d love to hear how!

Neil Parker

Universities are probably not the way to go … online courses that are free are considered to be in the “entertainment” category rather than the “education” category.

However, there are a number of certifications that are not degree-tracked, but that will be of value to employers. As an example, I’m completing the Psychological First Aid course. No university will give credit for what amounts to a volunteer training day, nor should they. But my (verified) certificate gives me continuing education credits at my workplace, which is both a requirement of my job and a bonus. And as an employer, I appreciate anything which helps to verify that my employees actually verified their participation (rather than signing up for a ‘webinar’ and then letting it play in the background while they do their yoga).

My $.02 worth.

Alejandra Barciela

It’s already happening as you may know by now. It’s so exciting.

Mark Coren

After having been out of the workforce due to a severe injury five years ago, I absolutely do find value in getting the upgraded, verified certificates. Re-entering the job market (or even consulting) is very difficult with that sort of interruption, whether it is due to injury, a break for parenting, or any other extended absence.

In the case of Coursera, there are a couple of specific advantages to their specializations. First, for those in need of financial assistance, aid waivers are available. The application process is simple and straight-forward. Secondly, the specializations offer a capstone project that is not otherwise available. The result of a capstone course is a documented, verified project showing the result of the student’s learning. In my case, I’ve already had expressed interest in working with me when I finish my coursework. I’ve also had several graduate programs confirm that verifiable completion of this coursework would help my chances of admission to grad school if I choose to return.

I suspect that most people taking the courses neither need to nor in many cases can afford to pay for the added verification. However, for some of us, there is a distinct and critical value to getting those certificates.

Mark

I want to ask what are the several graduate programs from which universities confirm you that verifiable completion of coursework in Coursera would help your chances of admission to grad school?

Greg

I’m currently pursuing the Supply Chain Management xSeries certificate for professional knowledge reasons. After I passed the threshold for the first verified course certificate (60%) my dedication for completing the graded assignments kind of floundered but I still slogged through. I too wish there was some higher requirement to pass the course (at least 50% on all assignments) or an incentive for attaining a higher grade other than a higher number (recognition of distinction, merit, etc.). Paying definitely helped me stick through the first 6 weeks of the challenging course, even getting 100% on some weeks, but it was tough to rationalize pursuing a higher percentage if others can just stop after 60% and receive the same recognition. I understand that people can fake even doing the work, but I believe people will judge my honesty in completing the certificate based on my C.V. and experience rather than the potential for some to cheat to get the certificate.

I’m thinking of applying for a course on Coursera, but I’m not intended to buy a verified certificate. This leaves me with two questions:

1. Will I receive a certificate, or a notion, in any form that will say that I succesfully passed the course, even though I don’t pay? That isn’t clear to me when looking on their website.
2. Can I add a course I’ve finished to your CV? What would be the best way to categorize it?

Nice post Laurie.
You mentioned paid certificate and their value to potential employers. Sure they are a better measure for relevance in certain fields. However, in computer networking for example, I see more and more students cheating in paid certificates because they need that “title” in their resumé. I think, the more people cheat on the exams, the more the value of paid certificates decreases. And maybe one day statements of accomplishments from Coursera and EdX will be more recognized.

Alejandra Barciela

This is very interesting. I actually just paid the Business Core Certification by Wharton in Coursera (I’m half way done with it). California Irvine has in Coursera this Specialization about Digital Marketing which will apply towards the iMBA, as you may know. I am considering to complete and purchase that one, too. My main concern is still the perception of these achievements by the employers. I like the idea of the specialization because it shows certain proficiency in a specific area, rather than scattered, disconnected courses. On the other hand, purchasing the courses keeps me motivated and more committed than when I do them for free. What’s your view on that?

I agree that a series of courses is more impressive to employers than a set of unconnected courses. I also believe that until alternative credentials like Specializations are well known that it will be on the student to demonstrate mastery – e.g. with a portfolio. And spending some money to keep motivated is a great strategy. In fact, there is a robust literature about this topic in economics. So even though Specializations aren’t necessarily a sure thing when it comes to the employment market – at least not yet – it may still be a good investment. Thanks for your comment!

This is really an interesting discussion. Luckily I got the diplomas I need and I simply follow MOOC courses to continue learning something new. I do however find it strange that MOOC platforms try to make money from the very people that are so important for the participating Universities. I am quite sure that the reason most of them are participating is because of the marketing value in doing so. The MOOC-platforms should do everything they can to attracts more users instead of scaring people away with high fees for worthless certificates. I really hope all MOOC-platforms will think once more about this – right now there clearly is a gap in the market. I guess Google soon will fill it with a completely free MOOC-platform. Note that Coursera now changed the price from 49 USD to 79 USD. This is really getting ridiculous. I myself will leave their platform.

Calilaun

What’s the difference between a paper that says you went to this college vs taking this course? You should be lucky that Coursera and Edx have free classes for you. What you said about the whole cheating scenario, that could still apply to a 4 year undergraduate college as well. As for marketing, unless the colleges are top tier colleges like the ones in the Ivy League (which obviously aggressively market), then listing a diploma meets the same criteria as showing employers knowledge about a topic due to learning it online. I do agree that difficulty can vary. But only the performance in the real world job setting can discern. However, with anything in this world, everything comes with a price. Having the Coursera website and hosting all of the videos cost money. I will gladly donate to that. And I will also donate to a research university as well, which will produce more knowledge for learning for future generations as well.

Fungrim

Know I’m a bit late to this conversation but I’ve just finished a course with ALISON and the only way I can obtain some sort of proof that I’ve actually completed it is by paying £70+ for a piece of paper I don’t want…
I’ve completed a few online courses – both of which were ‘reduced price’ courses via Amazon Local, costing less than £40. Seemed fair deals to me, probably in reality getting ripped off, but it’s good to keep learning and it doesn’t hurt your CV. Both gave me free pdfs at the end, and the option to buy something more tangible. Naturally, I was happy enough with a pdf, I’d already paid, and everyone was happy.

So ALISON is my first attempt at a ‘free’ course. I checked it out before joining up, it seemed legit and most reviews were complimentary. In my naivety I assumed that I’d just get a free pdf download at the end like everywhere else. But no. There is no pdf download. Unless you pay £70+ for the physical parchment (THEN you get emailed a free pdf…)
So… it’s not a free course then is it? I want proof I completed the course and to be honest their ‘well you’ve got a page on your ALISON profile to show you completed it’ isn’t a good enough substitute. If they offered me a pdf for £10 I’d probably fork out (begrudgingly), hell if they offered the parchment with postage for £30 I’d consider it.

BUT £70?! Not a fan. In no way is that a free course.

FredM

To pay or not to pay, that’s the question… I’ve discovered edX a few months ago and the first course I took was CTL.SC1 by MIT. I think it’s a great course by the way. I’ve just finished 2 other MOOC’s on edX, all honor code, because I really don’t see any difference between verified and Honor Code. The verified track absolutely doesn’t insure that the student doesn’t cheat. I’m taking online courses to learn things, not to get a certificate A certificate is however a good way to motivate students, but the passing marks are way too low. Either they have to raise them to at least 70%, or indicate the scores on the certificates. For instance, I’ve just finished Statistics for Business 1, offered by IIMBx. The passing mark was at 50% and I’ve made 96%. The guy who’s made 50% has got the exact same certificate that I have. That’s not fair to me.

gamesnepal

I was just wondering whether they would send us the hard copy of the verified certificate internationally via mail?

Words have an implied power. The “Verified” certificate of “Completion” implies that the certificate is official and it’s that “officialness” that adds value. Especially, if the certificate is from a reputable university like Yale. Maybe an employer won’t be impressed enough to hire or promote you, but if you’re in business for yourself adding that certificate to your website might be enought to convince a potential client that you are trained and competent, which you would be.

Great post! I actually think Coursera took up most of your recommendations. At least #1 and #3 are core parts of their strategy now.

Anna

I have an accomplishment certificate at coursera, but my account name is on it and not my real name. So it’s not valuable por me (cus the only use I can see for those kind of things is bragging), and since I don’t want to reveal my real name to show at the wide coursera web for everyone to see, it’s not even usefull for bragging. Is there anyone with the same problem?

zacharycat

I have some Coursera certificates back from the days when they were free (2012-2013). While I enjoyed and learned from these classes the papers themselves have little value and are just sitting in a drawer. I just finished Financial Accounting, and while I liked the course and worked pretty hard I don’t see how spending $95 for another certificate would be a good investment (in my situation at least).

It feels like not enough people are talking about supporting these amazing projects! Everyone is talking about these courses in a very selfish way.. “The course verification is not valuable enough for my employers, it can’t do enough for my career, I’ll just take it for free and get the skills anyway!”. You don’t have 50 bucks to pay for an MIT CS course? Perfectly fine. But let’s think about how much these courses can improve global education and have a positive impact on people all around the world. Why not support them to keep them online and keep them improving?

I agree! It’s amazing that this kind of education is now available at a really low price, even if the certification component hasn’t been worked out yet. Thanks for your comment, Mytter.

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